Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms Blog

Rheumatoid Arthritis in Children is commonly known as Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA), Still’s disease or Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. It is often seen in children below the age of 16.

Rheumatoid Arthritis in children is one of the most widely seen types of arthritis in children. It is no different than the rheumatoid disease in an adult. The joint inflammation lasts for more than 6 weeks. Rheumatoid arthritis in children may improve over a period of time.

There are 3 major types of rheumatoid arthritis in children:

• Polyarticular JRA
• Pauciarticular JRA
• Systematic JRA.

Each one is classified on the basis of which joints the arthritis affects. The polyarticular JRA affects 5 or more than 5 joints. Pauciarticular JRA affects maximum four joints, mainly the knee joints. And systematic JRA affects all other internal parts of the body.

Pain is the most common symptom that is felt among all the three types of rheumatoid arthritis in children. Other commonly seen symptoms are rashes, swelling, mild fever, joint inflammation, fatigue and lack of appetite.

The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis in children is yet unknown. But doctors claim that it is an autoimmune disorder. In children rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed by doing blood tests, X-rays and at times by testing the joint fluid if required.

Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in children is done with a combination of methods.

• Exercising on daily basis as prescribed by your rheumatologist like waking, swimming and bicycling.
• Medication for reducing pain and inflammation.
• A diet plan rich in nutrients like calcium, proteins and zinc and also list of foods that need to be avoided to worsen your symptoms.
• Regular blood tests are also done to check the level of Rheumatoid arthritis in children.

Rheumatoid arthritis in children spreads fast and can get uncontrollable. It can also make the child handicap or disable.

Children with rheumatoid arthritis have difficulty to cope with the disease as they have low immune system and get fatigued very often. They get distressed very often as they have to take great care and follow a monotonous fixed routine.

As there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis in children, managing their symptoms with exercise, positive attitude and motivation shall help them cope.

Are you searching for rheumatoid arthritis causes? Well, you aren’t the only one. Fact is that scientists have still not been able to figure out the exact causes of this autoimmune disease. In fact, today many scientists have dedicated their life in order to find rheumatoid arthritis causes. Years of research has now started to put together many links and factors that may be causing this chronic ailment. It is believed that rheumatoid arthritis causes is one of the most active areas of medical research today because scientists and doctors are eager to find what really triggers this autoimmune disease. Let us discuss a few rheumatoid arthritis causes and understand this disease better.

Inherited factors – Believe it or not, one of leading rheumatoid arthritis causes is genetics. Scientists now believe that factors that may lead to rheumatoid arthritis are passed on through genes. It is possible that you may have these genes and yet not ever develop the diseases itself. This only means that inherited factor is not the only factor that decides whether an individual will or will not contract rheumatoid arthritis. However, it may play a large role in deciding how severe the disease might become once contracted.

Infections and environmental factors – Though rheumatoid arthritis causes are not known exactly, researchers believe that certain bacterial and fungal infections could be working as a trigger in a person who is more susceptible to rheumatoid arthritis due to genetic factors. However, it has been proven that rheumatoid arthritis cannot be contracted from another person. A person needs to be susceptible to the disease due to internal factors to contract the disease and environmental factors alone play no role.

Miscellaneous factors – A few studies have revealed that rheumatoid arthritis causes include some hormonal factors. Scientists believe that women are more susceptible and the disease does get better while a woman is pregnant. However, the symptoms flare up again post pregnancy, especially for breast feeding mothers. Also, an interesting research states that use of contraceptive methods that alter hormone levels may have effects on developing rheumatoid arthritis.  What is to really understand here is that there are no set rheumatoid arthritis causes, as the factors change from one person to another. Also, the final trigger may be a varied combination of many factors and science is yet to reveal many details about his chronic disease.